1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an article of manufacture for use in recycling of waste materials, and, more particularly, to a recyclable article in the form of a newsprint in a storage container suitable for baling and a method for recycling such bales, the bales consisting essentially of newsprint and storage containers therefor, wherein the storage containers are formed of material compatible for recycling with the newsprint.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One example of a recycling program provides that waste products at the level of an individual household or small commercial establishment are collected in diverse containers according to categories of the products, e.g., glass, plastic, metal and paper. The recyclables in the individual containers are delivered to appropriate ones of diverse waste recycling facilities for processing. Some recycling programs provide that the waste products at the source of origin are collected as a recycling unit and later separated to form individual classes of recycling materials. Metals, plastics and glass can be successfully handled in this manner but waste newsprint becomes highly contaminated by broken glass and liquids. When so contaminated, the newsprint is a waste not a recyclable product.
Such methods have either required the individual to personally transport the packaged waste products to designated collection center(s) or the waste products were left "curb-side" where they were collected by a collection authority. Examples of containers for newsprint are found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,557,881, issued Oct. 20, 1925; U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,643, issued Feb. 14, 1961; U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,854, issued Dec. 25, 1973; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,493, issued Oct. 21, 1980. It is also known in the art to form baled products primarily comprised of waste newsprint as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,846,585, Issued Feb. 23, 1932; U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,454, Issued Oct. 2, 1973; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,222, Issued Nov. 22, 1977.
Aside from the obvious inconveniences and disadvantages of spent transportation time and expense, major disadvantages arise when the individual is required to personally transport the waste products to the designated collection centers. First, if the waste storage containers are not supplied in some routine manner, e.g., by a recycling authority, to the individual at little or no cost, then obtaining and maintaining a supply of appropriate waste storage containers, whether they be reusable or not, requires a cost outlay by the individual participation by individuals is likely to be reduced. And, if the storage containers are reusable, whether purchased or not by the individual, they require an inventory and thereby occupy valuable storage space in the individual's household or place of business.
Another serious concern, regardless of whether the waste is transported to the waste recycling center by individuals or a collection authority, is the disposal of the waste storage containers at the waste recycling center. That is to say, if the container and waste are incompatible for recycling together, e.g., waste paper packaged in plastic bags, then the waste paper must be removed from the multitude of plastic bags prior to recycling at a paper mill. The dissimilar material comprised of the plastic bags is an unacceptable foreign contaminant detrimentally affecting the compositional integrity of the final recycled waste product. Consequently, the accumulation of discarded waste storage containers generates a secondary waste disposal problem requiring additional expenditures of resources in order to separately dispose of the waste storage containers.
To fully understand the newsprint recycling process of the present invention the paper making process and materials by which the newsprint was obtained will give information about the waste newsprint. Wood fibers used in papermaking are derived from hardwoods and softwoods. Softwoods have longer fibers contributing strength in the paper but the fibers can make the paper rough or coarse and, therefore, hardwood fibers are used as a filler to make the paper smoother and suitable for printing. Most newsprint is made from a blend of both types of wood fibers to achieve the desired final properties. In the papermaking process, the wood fibers are joined together by hydrogen bonds. The bonding process is achieved by the polarity of water and pressure of hydroxyl groups on the wood fibers. To recycle the newsprint, a repulping process similar to the origin pulping process is undertaken. The repulping process includes separating the newsprint into individual fibers. Complicating factors to the repulping process include coatings on the newspaper; chemical treatments to the paper; and presence of penetrating ink. The fibers must be separated before deinking. Deinking is accomplished by using well known procedures as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,412, issued Dec.8, 1959 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,206, issued Jan. 13, 1976. Because the act of papermaking caused the fibers to bond together, in order to reuse the fibers from wastepaper, these bonds must be broken to separate the fibers once again. It is practically impossible to break the fibers apart without damaging them somewhat. All of these factors conspire to make paper produced from recycled fiber different from paper made from virgin fiber. The difference is importantly a much lower potential for strength.
Recycled fibers can be used with virgin fiber in quantities based on the required strength and purity. However, recycled wood fibers are lower in strength than if the same blend of fibers was obtained as unused pulp. While it is possible to clean and bleach recycled fibers to produce high-quality paper, the cost for the cleaning and bleaching offsets the savings from the use of lower cost wastepaper as a raw material. The recycled fiber is obtained primarily from newspapers and corrugated containers and used for combination boxboard and other products where cleaning is not needed. Combination boxboard is used for cereal cartons or other boxes made from board that has a gray layer in the center and sometimes sandwiched between layers of white pulp.
The present invention seeks to produce recycled newsprint using waste newsprint as a major source of useful wood fibers without degrading as to color quality and strength. Virgin wood fiber for newsprint is commonly obtained by mechanical methods particularly ground wood pulp process for liberating wood fibers. As a result, the newsprint has a slightly yellow appearance of fair to low strength. These processes are used primarily on softwoods to maximize the strength of the pulp because of a long wood fiber.
Ground wood is used for newsprint without bleaching. Bleaching is associated with pulping but reduces the yield of the pulping operations. Bleaching can also be a purification operation since the chemicals react to remove colored materials, e.g., natural glues in the wood and from the fibers. Bleaching has little effect on the strength of the resultant paper unless the pulp is bleached extensively or to very high brightness. The major reason for bleaching is its effect on the whiteness or brightness of the paper.
Due to the immense quantity of newsprint which is generated, consumed and discarded on a daily basis, the ever increasing cost of landfill disposal and the severe depleting effect such activity has on commercial forest resources and waste landfill sites, an urgent need has arisen for ways and means for efficient recycling of newsprint involving the cooperative efforts of the individual and the recycling industry.
During the rigors of recycling a quantity of newsprint at a paper mill, because of the very nature of the material, a portion of sub-standard paper fibers is normally generated which must be extracted after repulping. As a result, replenishment of a generally equal portion of compatible higher quality paper fibers is required in order to maintain the recycled newsprint within predetermined commercially acceptable quality or tolerance standards. At present, assurance of the replenishment of the appropriate portion of compatible higher quality paper fibers entails essentially continuous performance of labor intensive testing and quality control measures at the paper mill. The chemistry of the waste newsprint varying with origin of the newsprint. Hence, a need exists for a "self-regulating" newsprint recycling process which greatly reduces or, preferably, eliminates labor intensive testing and quality control measures in order to identify corrective measures including replenishment of an appropriate quantity of higher quality paper fibers into the recycling process. Widely varying differences to the chemical and fiber composition need to be reduced which is possible by integrating in the waste newsprint a normalizing factor so that a consistent chemical and source of strength enhancing wood fibers exists to replenish substandard wood fiber that must be discarded during the recycling.
A general advantage exists, therefore, for a system of waste material recycling involving the formation of bales of recyclable waste consisting essentially of recyclable waste material and waste storage containers therefor, wherein the waste storage containers are filled by the individual consumer with the recyclable waste material prior to the formation of the bales and are formed of material that is compatible for recycling with the waste material, such that the containers and their contents form unitary disposable packages of recyclable waste.
A more particular advantage exists for an efficiently recyclable baled article consisting essentially of waste newsprint and containers therefor, the containers being formed of a material which is compatible for recycling with newsprint.
A further advantage exists for waste storage containers which are preferably obtained conveniently obtained simultaneously with, and as part of, the goods which ultimately become the recyclable waste material stored in the containers.
A more particular advantage exists for a waste storage container which is formed of material compatible for recycling with newsprint and conveniently included as a component of a newspaper.
A still further advantage exists for a "self-regulating" newsprint recycling process which assures replenishment of a quantity of sub-standard paper fibers extracted during recycling with an appropriate quantity of compatible higher quality paper fibers.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for waste material recycling involving the formation of bales of recyclable waste consisting essentially of recyclable waste material and waste storage containers therefor, wherein the waste storage containers are filled by the individual consumer with the recyclable waste material prior to the formation of the bales and are formed of materials that are compatible for recycling with the waste material.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide an efficiently recyclable baled article consisting essentially of waste newsprint and containers therefor, the containers being formed of material which is compatible for recycling with newsprint.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide articles or containers which are conveniently obtained simultaneously with, and as part of, the goods which ultimately become the recyclable waste material stored in the containers.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a waste storage container which is formed of material compatible for recycling with newsprint and conveniently included as a component of a newspaper.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a "self-regulating" recycling process for newsprint which assures replenishment of a quantity of sub-standard paper fibers extracted during recycling with an appropriate quantity of compatible higher quality paper fibers.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious in light of the attached drawings and written description of the invention presented herebelow.